Flower of the Sea
by Ashnekochan
Summary: The Aizen conflict is over, and Ichigo and friends have returned to life in Karakura. Then suddenly, Soul Society sends in a team to check up on some unusual reiatsu activity, composed of Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, and a new recruit, Kaika.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Bleach. However, I do own Miyamoto Kaika, so don't steal her. If for some reason you really like her and want to use her, please ask first.**

**A/N: This is a complete work-in-progress. I don't have a beta-reader, so even though I'm pretty sure my grammar and spelling are just fine, let me know if you find any glaring errors or typos that are bothering you. This chapter is mostly just an intro, enjoy!**

Ichigo opened his eyes. Something was lurking in his darkened room. Stealthily, he reached for the zanpakuto he had left by the bed since he had been too tired to climb back into his body last night.

"Relax, Strawberry."

Ichigo tensed at the sudden noise and weight landing on his chest.

"Get off of me, you stupid cat," Ichigo growled as his body relaxed and he turned on the light. He would have flipped the annoyance across the room, but he knew better than to risk retaliation from her.

"Awww, don't you wanna play?' Yoruichi purred as she slowly began transforming back into a human.

"AHHH! DON'T DO THAT!" Ichigo flailed around, trying to throw a blanket over Yoruichi's now naked form, which, of course, was completely useless. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered to try. "Yoruichi, I was sleeping! That hollow took forever to kill last night. I just want to relax!" Oops. Not only was that complaint whinier than he had intended, it was probably the entirely wrong thing to say to such a huge pervert. Luckily for Ichigo, Yoruichi decided to have mercy on the exhausted teenager.

"Get dressed. Team meeting at Urahara's in fifteen minutes." Yoruichi demanded before once again becoming fluffy and adorable.

Ichigo again considered flipping her across the room, then decided that her revenge wasn't worth the momentary satisfaction. One of Yoruichi's sudden transformations was enough to make him blush for a few hours. No telling what two in ten minutes would do. Grumbling protests of being over-worked and under-appreciated, Ichigo slipped back into his body, still in the closet where he'd left it the night before, grabbed some fresh clothes, and headed to the bathroom. After finishing his morning routine, he snagged some bread from the kitchen on his way out of the door.

-At Urahara's-

"Soul Society has sent along some very interesting news," Urahara announced to the assembled team, face hidden behind his fan as usual. The team, of course, was composed of Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Uryuu, and Orihime. All five had spent the last few months after the recent Aizen showdown training in Urahara's basement. Ichigo, being one of the most powerful shinigami alive, spent most of his time there training the others rather than training himself. Rukia was still working on bankai, and Chad and Uryuu were concentrating on strengthening their individual attacks. Orihime mostly just watched, talked to her faeries, and healed any incidentals. Thankfully, she'd learned how NOT to scream.

"Get on with it already," the grumpy Ichigo demanded. The only thing he'd ever willingly get out of bed this early for was Rukia. Not that he would ever admit that.

"Grumpy, grumpy. Could it be that you are in need of some –"

"SHUT UP, PERV!" Ichigo sent Urahara flying across the shop, knowing that whatever the rest of the sentence was, it wasn't something appropriate.

Chuckling as he regained his feet, Urahara replaced his hat on his head and settled back in with his tea. "I'll take that as a yes. Oh, Rukia!"

Urahara again went flying, this time out the window.

"Anyway, what Urahara was about to share is that Soul Society is sending out another team. There have been some reports of unusual spirit activity here, and given all the…events that happen around Karakura, they're playing it safe. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto are arriving sometime today, as well as Renji, and a new recruit, Miyamoto Kaika. Apparently she's already proven herself to be a very unique shinigami." Yoruichi explained to the group.

"Are they coming to school with us?" Orihime questioned in her ever-obnoxious voice.

"Of course. You should know how this works by now. Now, downstairs for training, all of you!" Yoruichi jumped up and led the way to the trapdoor.

Once downstairs, they all scattered to their usual spots. Ichigo had just started his usual training warm-up when suddenly a Senkaimon opened above him and Matsumoto came tumbling out, landing right on top of a very startled strawberry.

"Klutz," came a voice that sounded like Hitsugaya's from midair, where the gate had just been.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Ichigo screamed, looking more and more like his nickname with every passing second.

"Hmph. Well hello to you, too," Matsumoto pouted as she got up and dusted herself off. "It's been so long, I thought you'd be happy to see me, Ichigo!" With that, she started to grab him in a bear hug.

"AHHHHH!" Ichigo flashstepped to the other side of the room. He had had more than enough of seductive women today, and it wasn't even noon. Thank God Rukia was more reserved.

Yoruichi, having had a good laugh at Matsumoto and Ichigo's antics, welcomed Hitsugaya and gathered the others. "Well now, you must be Miyamoto Kaika. Soul Society seems to be very interested in you. I am Shihouin Yoruichi" she said to the youngish-looking girl hiding behind Toshiro.

"Nice to meet you. I am Miyamoto Kaika of the tenth division. I am sorry to trouble you."

A loud laugh boomed from above. A slightly-bruised Urahara, hat still in place, appeared at the top of the ladder. "What a beautiful girl. Come in, come in, everyone! Let's have some tea!"

At that, everyone journeyed upstairs to discuss the new mission, as well as Kaika and why she was so special.

**A/N: Please leave me a review, especially if you like it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo still won't give me the rights to Bleach. Oh well.**

**A/N: I know, it's short. But the chapter ends better here than after the next scene. So get over it. Also, I'm sorry it's slow so far, but the next chapter has more of the plot in it. Read and Review, please!**

Once everyone was seated somewhere in the tea room, Toshiro began explaining the new mission. "We're here because unusual reiatsu activity has been detected by the 12th squad. It's not like anything Soul Society has encountered before. So far, it's not believed to be dangerous, but, in light of recent events, the soutaicho is playing it safe."

"Congratulations," grumbled the still-grumpy Ichigo, "You managed to repeat exactly what Yoruichi already told us."

Toshiro shot an icy glare in Ichigo's direction. "I wasn't finished yet, Kurosaki."

Matsumoto interjected, "And you haven't said anything about Kaikayet, taichou!"

"I was getting to that!" insisted Toshiro before Matsumoto could launch into one of her annoying ramblings. "The child has shown-"

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" The sudden noise from the girl, who until now had been uncharacteristically quiet, stilled the room full of strangers. Strange to her, anyway...or strange in genearl, as the case may twirled a lock of black and pink hair around her finger absent-mindedly while staring down the short captain. "Please, let me reveal my secrets in my own time!" She continued staring. Damn, that girl was intense.

Hitsugaya, shocked that the girl was finally speaking again, managed a smallnod. Naturally, this set Matsumoto off on a tangent of giggling and teasing, which she was still continuing as they head off to Orihime's apartment, where she and Toshiro typically stayed while in the real world. Toshiro's eyebrow went into permanent twitch mode. "MATSUMOOOOTOOOO!"

-At Ichigo's—

"You can stay here," Ichigo pointed to the bed that Rukia had previously used in his sisters' room. "Rukia**'**llprobably want to sleep in my closet anyway."

As Ichigo had guessed, Rukia had already planted herself firmly in his closet, clutching a few of her stuffed chappies from her collection, just in case he got any bright ideas about trying to give Kaika the space. Like everyone else in Soul Society, Rukia wasn't about to take any chances. Especially not if those chances meant being farther from her favourite all, that would make it harder to antagonize him. At least, that's the reason she'd give if she ever actually had to give one.

Ichigo, having helped Kaika settle her things in her new room, led her down the hall to his own room. "_Thank goodness Dad and the girls aren't home_," he thought to himself.

As if on cue, in bounded Isshin and Yuzu, followed by Karin loudly threatening her obnoxious father.

"Ichi**-**nii! We heard you have a new friend!" squeaked out Yuzu.

As soon as Isshin's eyes fell on Kaika, he dropped to his knees in front of an oversized poster of his deceased wife."Oh, Masaki, this is a miraculous day! Our beloved son has managed to bring home another woman! Our son's turning into quite the pimp!"

Cue Ichigo's and Karin's feet simultaneously hitting Isshin's face, and his subsequent flight down the stairs, accompanied by a glaring Rukia and a heavily blushing Kaika.

Ichigo would have to think of a way to explain Daddy Dearest to Kaika later.

-At Orihime's—

Even before they walked through the door, Orihime and Matsumoto had begun planning a myriad of sleepover activities. Toshiro spent a total of about five seconds trying to convince them to focus on the mission before realizing it was pointless. These two were hopelessly flighty.

Toshiro was beginning to seriously consider finding somewhere else to stay. Somewhere with better food...and less of this obnoxious squealing.

**A/N: Like I said, I know it's short. But the next chapter will be longer. Anyway, please review, even if it's just to tell me it you think it sucks. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach, and if I did, Orihime's eyes would never have resembled a number.**

**A/N: Wow, it's been awhile since Chapter Two. Sorry about that, but school's been a bit crazy. This chapter is a little bit on the long side though, so I hope that makes up for it. Also, thanks to darkroydante for kinda-sorta beta-reading the last two chapters for me! Go read his stuff, and review so he'll write more for me to read :).**

Ichigo stood at the corner with Rukia and Kaika, waiting for the others to show up.

"Kaika, will you tell us about yourself? You haven't said much since you got here," pleaded Rukia.

Just then, Rukia's Soul Society phone went off, alerting her, as well as the two others, to the presence of…something. A something that was quite possibly the reason Kaika and the rest of Toshiro's team was even here. So much for finally learning something about her.

Kaika just smirked and shunpo'd after her new teammates and potential friends.

Ichigo, after being knocked out of his body by Rukia (she never did tire of punching him with her favourite red glove), led Rukia and Kaika across town to where the alert indicated the unusual spirit pressure was originating from. They found Toshiro and Matsumoto on a hill, watching someone fight off a rather ridiculous-looking Hollow, which greatly resembled an oversized teddy bear.

After chuckling at the incredibly un-scary-looking thing, Ichigo realized that he had no idea who that person was.

"Hey, Toshiro, who is that?" he called.

To which Toshiro replied, "I have no friggin idea, but she's not a shinigami, and she just killed that thing without touching it."

Sure enough, the girl had. She turned around and noticed her audience for seemingly the first time. Then she vanished. Not flash-stepped incredibly fast – straight up vanished.

-Urahara's—

"She vanished, you say? Hmm…" Urahara slid his fan up a bit higher. "How interesting."

"And you're sure she didn't touch the Hollow at all?" Yoruichi asked again. It's a good thing curiosity didn't really kill cats. At the rate she was asking questions tonight, she'd have used up more than her nine allotted lives.

Toshiro impatiently replied, "Yes, I'm sure. No visible physical contact. I don't think she used Kido either."

"So what can you tell us?" Ichigo was no longer as grumpy, but his traditional scowl was firmly in place.

Urahara began talking again, but Ichigo was already sure he wasn't missing anything important, so he let his thoughts drift to Kaika. Why was se so secretive? Absentmindedly, he let his eyes wander over to her approximately 5'6" frame, and he started taking notes. Slender, but not overly skinny. Medium length, medium brown hair. Everything about her was so…medium. Like she was the perfect middle.

Ichigo's thoughts ended with an unceremonious kick to the shins, delivered under the table, along with a glare, by his favourite midget. He had a feeling that not only had she noticed him looking at Kaika, he was going to have hell to pay for it later.

-Later—

They'd missed the whole school day, thanks to the discussion at Urahara's, so everyone just returned home (or wherever they were currently lodging). Ichigo was beginning to regret letting Kaika stay with him. He had a feeling Rukia's little "accidental" jabs would not only leave bruises, but were also entirely deliberate. Damn munchkin couldn't stand not being center of attention, even if she didn't always get along with the person not paying attention to her. Little did she know exactly how much of his concentration she stole, and he sure as hell wasn't about to tell her. Then she'd be even more insufferable.

"Oi! Ichigo!" called the obnoxious midget in question. "We need to talk. Your room, in two minutes." With that, she bounced to the roof and through his open window.

Ichigo sighed, and motioned for Kaika to stand to the side. In one smooth motion, the strawberry opened the door, grabbed Isshin's foot, flipped him into the street, ushered Kaika inside, and shut and bolted the door. Seeing Ichigo lock the door, Karin locked the side door as well. Both knew the only way they'd have any peace was by keeping Isshin out.

Ichigo headed upstairs, Kaika following behind like a lost puppy.

"Hey! Did I tell you to bring your cling-on?" Rukia shouted the instant Kaika entered the room.

Kaika paled. "I'll leave." She darted away to the safety of her temporary room.

"Oi! What was that about?" Ichigo fumed.

Rukia pouted. "You're letting yourself get too wrapped up in her. I saw you staring at her earlier! You don't even know anything about her!"

"Jealous, are we?" Ichigo teased. Rukia, unamused, sent a Chappy doll flying at his face as her own turned several shades of crimson.

"What would I be jealous of? I'm just trying to keep you from making yet another stupid mistake," she retorted haughtily as she turned her back on him, nose in the air.

Ichigo just smirked, tossing Rukia's stuffed animal into the closet before walking out of his room and down the hall.

"Knock knock!" he said, leaning on the doorframe to the girls' room. "Can we talk now?"

"That depends on what you want to talk about," replied Kaika. "I'm still not interested in divulging all my secrets to someone that I just met."

"You're staying in my house, rent-free."

"So?"

"so you could at least tell me SOMETHING." Ichigo was quickly getting agitated with Little Miss Keep-Everything-Secret.

Kaika stood up. "My name is Kaika." She bowed, smiled sarcastically, and sat back down on the bed.

"How informative," Ichigo glared down at her. "if you want to keep staying here, I suggest you start telling me more about yourself."

Kaika opened her mouth, presumably to retort with some sarcastic remark, but she was saved by a startled Ichigo being punched by a very familiar red glove.

"What the ?" Ichigo yelled as his body fell to the floor.

"Hollow alert." Rukia replied, knocking Kaika from her own gigai, and not much more gently/ "But it's the strange reiatsu again too." Rukia led the way out of the window, Ichigo and Kaika trailing closely behind. They leapt quickly from rooftop to rooftop until finally they reached a park near the center of town. There, they saw the same girl from earlier, and a new, also unfamiliar man standing not far away.

"Her again," Ichigo began to flash-step towards the fight, but Rukia restrained him.

"Wait. Let's watch, she said quietly. No sooner had she spoked than the strange girl neatly slipped into the air above the hollow, opening her mouth in what looked like a silent scream. The hollow's mask cracked, and the hollow itself slowly vanished. The girl landed gracefully, then se and her companion turned to face the shinigami.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo shouted. The man simply smirked before the two strangers disappeared.

-Urahara's—

Urahara sat with his characteristic hat low over his eyes and fan covering the lower portion of his face. "My, my – she loves a disappearing act, hmm?" he chuckled.

Yoruichi swatted him. "Not the time for fun and games."

"Yes, yes," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "though I hadn't made a joke yet."

Yoruichi smacked him again. "Get on with it."

Urahara sulked. "We've been analyzing what we can of their reiatsu, though it's not muc since all we have are the few traces they've left behind. It's very strange indeed. The closest math we've found thus far is the reiatsu of the Bount. However, the samples we have aren't perfect matcheds. It's almost as if it's been mutated somehow."

**A/N: I hope you liked it ('cause seriously, I didn't, but I never like my own work). Please review! And like I said earlier, go read/review darkroydante's stuff so he'll write more things for me to read! 'Til next time (which hopefully won't be as long)!**


	4. Chapter 4

Kaika stood in the kitchen, chopping vegetables. She had taken to helping Yuzu prepare meals in exchange for the Kurosaki's hospitality. She would have offered to clean up after the family had eaten, but that was Rukia's preferred job. Kaika didn't see a need to cause more conflict.

All of a sudden, Kaika heard a thud from upstairs, followed by Rukia's shout of "You pervert!" Then, a high-pitched shriek resonated in her ears, along with Ichigo's deep chuckle as Rukia pitched the offending stuffed lion out of the window

Not long after, Rukia stormed down the stairs, followed by Ichigo, who was managing to scowl while still looking highly amused at Rukia's antics. Just then, Rukia's soul pager went off.

"Moshi moshi," the munchkin grumbled, "Yes, we'll come right away." She hung up, and looked at her berry-headed friend. "Urahara found something. He wants to see us as soon as possible."

With that, the three grabbed their jackets and headed out the door.

-Urahara's Shoten-

"So I looked through my old records and discovered something quite interesting."Urahara sat cross-legged behind the tea table. "It seems that our new acquaintances have been seen before by Soul Society. They're part of an old race believed to have died out long ago, the name of which seems to be missing from the records. In fact, quite a lot of information on them has been destroyed. It seems like someone doesn't want us to know much about them."

Ichigo scowled harder. This was getting more and more frustrating by the day. Why couldn't he have had a nice, simple life? Sighing inwardly, he asked the ex-captain, "Was there anything else?"

Urahara slid his fan up to his eyes. "I'm afraid I've only been able to recover a small fragment so far. Soemthing about psychic abilities. Of these, there was no descriptions. LIke I said, someone wants to keep us in the dark."

Ichigo scowled harder; Rukia frowned; Kaika started picking at her nails. The whole situation was frustrating everyone. Rukia gathered her things and stood up. "Come on, or we'll be late to school." The three thanked Urahara for his help and left, heading in the direction of their high school.

-Later-

The school day went smoothly enough. They were late, but Sensei was even later, so they avoided getting in trouble. They did, however, have a lot of homework because the traffic accident that made Sensei late also put her in a terrible mood.

Ichigo settled into his desk and pulled out his assignments. Five minutes later, he was already daydreaming about all the recent developments. Rukia noticed this, and being oh-so-concerned with Ichigo's grades, whacked him with a brick.

"Ow! What was that for?" Ichigo scowled, angry at the munchkin, not that she could tell a difference.

"You weren't focusing," she said simply, skipping back into his closet to finish her own work. Grumpily, Ichigo went back to his assignments, begrudgingly admitting to himself, and only himself, that she was right and resolving to force himself to focus. Which, of course, was forgotten five minutes later when Yuzu burst into his room, shouting excitedly at the top of her lungs.

"Ichi-nii! Dad wants you to take Kaika shopping! She only has one set of clothes and her uniform."

Ichigo sighed and stood up. "Alright, I'm coming."

Rukia bolted out of the closet. "Not without me, you're not. Your fashion sense is awful. I'm not letting Kaika walk around looking like a moron." Ichigo scowled at her back as she bounced out of his room and down the stairs with him following closely behind.

-At the mall-

"Take this...and this...and this..."The two girls were flinging clothes at their strawberry companion at an alarming rate. After they decided they had enough to sample from, their "assistant" was shoved towards the dressing rooms. "Now try them on," they said in unison.

"But these are girls' clothes!"

"We won't know if we like them if you don't help us." Ichigo didn't have a chance to argue as he was suddenly forcibly inserted into a changing stall.

Four hours later, the girls were done. After all they had put Ichigo through, Kaika had only bought three outfits, and Rukia, only a set of Chappy pajamas. Ichigo was beginning to feel like he would never understand women. now, he was looking forward to going home and sleeping.

So, naturally, Rukia's pager went off, signaling a Hollow attack.

Ichigo groaned as he swallowed Kon. Luckily, he'd been so annoyed with the stuffed lion earlier that he had chosen the simple way of shutting the modsoul up. The threesome instructed their reanimated gigais, or in Ichigo's case, body, to retrun home quickly and wait in Ichigo's room.

On the way to the site of the report, Ichigo half expected to find the two strangers already fighting once they arrived. As he caught sight of the Hollow, though, he could only feel their odd reiatsu, and only that barely, since he was still awful at sensing spiritual pressure, and saw no sign of a fight.

The Hollow was a weak one; Rukia easily took it down in one strike with Sode no Shirayuki, much to Ichigo's annoyance. That was, until he noticed two increasingly familiar strangers watching intently. Seizing his chance, he quickly flash-stepped close and grabbed hold of the man. Kaika, seeing this, called to Rukia, and both shunpoed to his side.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo shouted.

The man smirked. "Eternal Souls." Ichigo blinked, and his hand held only air. "WHAT THE...?"

Rukia grabbed his wrist. "Urahara's. NOW."

The three, still shocked at what had just happened, quickly turned and headed to the small shop.

**A/N: Yea, I know, it's been awhile. I was fully intending on abandoning this story. But, darkroydante asked nicely, and I already had this chapter written, so I gave in. However, this story is being put on hold indefinitely, as I've just kind of lost interest, and I'm pretty sure dark's the only one who keeps up with it anyway. In the meantime, feel free to read the other things I'll be posting. See y'all later!**

**~Ash**


End file.
